Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can't find any separation. Even after Manning missed an entire season and went to the Broncos, he's back in a familiar place—the playoffs with New England as his biggest obstacle in getting to the Super Bowl again.

The Broncos are strong favorites not only to get to Manning's hometown of New Orleans, but to win Super Bowl XLVII once they get there.

Oddsmakers have the Patriots—rather than an NFC team—as second in line. Denver and New England take their places as 1-2 in Sporting News' final regular-season power rankings: